Christ the King and Head of His Church
Photo by Benjamin Finley on Unsplash
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)
Introduction
How does Jesus govern his church?
That is our question this morning. We have seen in this series what the church is, how we understand the church, and why the church is so important. At this point it is appropriate that we ask the question of how Jesus runs and governs his church.1
This conversation leads to the discussion of church government. It can feel weird for us to put church and government together in the same sentence. We have enough government in our lives, especially during an election year! Why does the church need to have a form of government at all?
I can sympathize with that sentiment, but nonetheless this is a vitally important discussion to have. Simply put, there is and must be some way that the church operates, and guidance for how it should be structured.
If we take the necessity of the church to be structured in some way, when we approach Scripture we find that Jesus does govern his Church and does gives us instruction in his word on how things should be done.
That is what we want to consider in this article. The government of the church is not something superfluous to it, but actually given to the church for her well-being. And when done right, functions to protect her, to edify her, and to help her grow in holiness as Christ her head has called her to be.
There are many places in Scripture that we can turn to consider the government of the church, but for this article, I want to consider Ephesians 1:20-23 in particular.
In this passage we see one of the foundational principles of church government. Namely, that Christ himself, and he alone, is King and Head of the Church. If we keep this principle in mind, everything else will fall into place.
Ephesians 1:20-23
In the broader context of Ephesians 1, Paul prays that the Church in Ephesus would receive from the Spirit the wisdom and knowledge of God, having the eyes of their hearts enlightened, so that they would be able to comprehend these spiritual realities:
That they would know the hope that comes from God’s calling on them.
That they would know the riches that belong to them on account of their union with Christ and inheritance in his kingdom.
And that they would know the greatness of God’s power working in them, demonstrated through the mighty resurrection of Christ from the dead.
That is true of every Christian and of every church. We need to know and comprehend and rest in the hope of God’s calling, the riches of our inheritance in Christ, and the power of God to accomplish all things that he promises.
But what does this have to do with church government?
We see why in the next few verses. It is because Christ is King over all things. He was raised from the dead, first of all. Then Paul goes on to say that Christ is now seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places. To be seated is to have authority, and to be at the right hand of God is the place of authority and honor. He has been given absolute authority.
Paul goes on and says that Christ has been given absolute authority far above every other rule, authority, power, and dominion. Each of those words has its own nuance and range of meaning. The point is simply that no other power or authority we could think of can ever compare to Christ’s power and authority. And his name is therefore above every other name.
And then, perhaps in anticipation of an objection that, while maybe there is no rival at this present moment, could not some other god or power come later that would challenge Jesus’ reign? Not so, because Paul says that this is true, not only in this age in the present, but also in the age to come. Forever, Christ is King.
Christ is King over all things, that includes all nations and governments. But he is also King of a particular group of people that have a special relationship with Him, and that is the church. We see this in verses 22-23: And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Christ is King over all things, but he has a special relationship with one particular institution among all the rest: his church.
Christ cares deeply for His church, as her King and Head. And because he cares for the church, he governs, protects, rules over, and provides for his church and everything she needs.
When we talk about church government, we are talking about how Jesus, as King and Head, runs his church. It is within the church that these spiritual realities Paul prays about here can be found. It is within the church that Jesus gives his means of grace to edify and grow his people. It is within the church that Christ’s name is proclaimed to all people, and his name honored and glorified.
Therefore, it is worth our time to consider how Jesus governs his church. In what follows, I want to consider three different aspects of how Christ governs and rules his church.
Jesus Institutes His Government
If Christ is King and Head of his church, it follows that he has the right to regulate and govern how his church is run. That statement should not find much disagreement. The debate, however, hinges on whether or not Christ has given us any rule or principle about how the church should be run?
Are there any biblical principles laid down in Scripture that would direct us? Or is it open to any particular local church, or group of churches or denominations to choose whichever form of government they think best?
From the doctrinal teachings of the apostles, and their examples in the history of the church, we can say that Christ does give, in his Word, the principles for church government. There are biblical principles that govern how the church ought to be run that we should follow.
For example, in Acts 6 we see how the first Deacons were appointed and elected in their congregation to serve those in need among them. They were called to this ministry of service, which was distinguished from the ministry of the apostles (The office of Deacon will be the topic of a later article).
We also find in passages like Acts 14 that Paul and Barnabas appointed Elders in every church as a vital part of their missionary work. They did not simply preach the gospel and leave, but established churches and Elders and put things in order so that the churches would thrive after they left.
We also see in the instructional passages like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 where Paul gives the qualifications for Elders and Deacons, the officers in the church. Paul wrote these letters to his young disciples Timothy and Titus, so that they would have everything they needed to do the work of ministry. And they are instructed to likewise teach this to the next generation as they raise up new officers in their churches. So, we see how this is to be a perpetual, and ongoing process.
Elders and Deacons, officers in the church, were instituted in every generation to serve and lead Jesus’ church. We have already seen the importance of this kind of godly leadership. We considered Hebrews 13:17 in a previous article, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, or they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
Christ has given his church clear biblical principles for how he governs his church, through godly men raised up to be officers and elected by the people whom they will serve. But that doesn’t answer every question we might have, and that’s okay.
The Bible Is not a Church Manual
Though we have principles of church government, our Bibles are not an exhaustive church manual. And that is by design. Holy Scripture is the unfolding history of God’s redemption of his particular people. He declares this redemption in Genesis 3:15 with the promise of a future offspring who would undo the curse and defeat sin and death. This promise is fulfilled in Christ Jesus, who is God incarnate, whose sacrifice on the cross accomplished this redemption. The Gospels tell us this story.
Then the book of Acts and the Epistles tell us how people from every nation were being saved and churches being planted, and the gospel spreading to the ends of the earth. And it will continue to do so until Christ returns.
Within those pages of Holy Scripture, inspired by God, we see the principles of how these churches are to be run, like we have mentioned already. But we are not given an exhaustive, detailed manual for church government. And that is no accident.
We are to take these principles and apply them to our given context. That means that things will look different in different churches, and across different generations, but the foundational, biblical principles ought to be the same.
For example, Scripture shows us plainly that the church needs Elders. It also gives the qualification for those Elders, and the command that they are to continuously be training up men to that position.
But it doesn’t tell us what shape the training should take, how it should be done, or for how long. It doesn’t say the best way to nominate those men within a particular congregation, or which method of voting should be used.
We have talked about some helpful categories and distinctions in this series, like the distinction between visible and invisible church. At this point we can talk about another one. That is the distinction between principle and circumstance.
There are biblical principles for the church, and then there are the circumstances in which those principles are applied. We just discussed that in the context of Elders. The principle is godly Elders who lead the church. The circumstances include all those things that are not expressly laid down in Scripture and are left to the wisdom of the church to decide.
Another example is in the worship service. Some principles are clear. We know that we gather on Sunday to worship, not any other day. And we know that we worship God with Word, Sacrament, and prayer as the ordinary means he gives us to worship him.
But what time should we meet on Sunday? At what temperature should the room be set? Which passages of Scripture should be read? Which hymns should we sing, and how many? Those are all circumstantial questions that we must determine, always with an eye toward serving the biblical principles behind them.
In our pursuit to fulfill these biblical principles of church government, we will run into questions of circumstance like this. Those are the questions that get into the minute details of the matter, which leads to a third point.
A Presbyterian Church
That is, that we are a Presbyterian church, and that word describes our form of government. We believe that this system of government is both biblical in its principles, and provides the best application of all the circumstances that are part of the church.
But let’s start back at the beginning with the very word Presbyterian. That is a biblical word. Presbyter is the Greek word for Elder, and a Presbyterian form of church government is one in which Elders are elected to govern and shepherd their churches, at every respective level.
This is another important biblical principle of the church that is so often overlooked today. We are not just one local church independent from everyone else. But our particular, local expression of the visible church belongs to the broader visible church.
We see this principle in passages like Acts 15. The early church faced its first major doctrinal debate about whether and how Gentile believers could be included in the church. But the individual congregations were not left on their own. Instead we see that church leaders were commissioned and sent to Jerusalem for a meeting of the church, in its totality, to determine this issue together. The church corporate made the decision on this issue. They were accountable to each other and needed one another.
The same is true today. We cannot be isolated from other churches. That is why we are part of a denomination, which is the Presbyterian Church in America. But ‘denomination’ isn’t really the best word for it, because we are a church. The Presbyterian Church in America is one of the many faithful expressions of the visible church here in this country.
And like we see in Acts 15, there is work that the church must do at every level. So, the PCA, building upon the principles given in Scripture has determined what they consider the best way of doing this work. This structure is an article all to itself, but here is a quick synopsis:
The PCA meets annually at a General Assembly, which includes a representation of Elders across the country who are commissioned to attend and do the work of the church. As I am writing this, I am also preparing for the 51st General Assembly of the PCA in Richmond, VA on June 11-14. At this meeting, we will do work specific to the gathering of the whole church.
Below the General Assembly are the regional Presbyteries, which are made up of the churches within their geographical bounds. We are a member of the Hills and Plains Presbytery, which covers Oklahoma, NW Arkansas, and our corner of SW Missouri. I am accountable to those brothers, who examined me and finalized my call to be pastor of CTK.
At the local church level, it is the Teaching and Ruling Elders who make up the Board of Elders, which we call a Session. Fancy terminology which simply means that we function in the role of governing the church. (We will discuss the office of Elder, and the authority given to the Session, in future articles).
That is how the PCA has organized itself. That does not mean there is a Bible verse that says the General Assembly must do this, the Presbyteries do that, and the Elders of the church are called this.
No, but we are taking the principles of Scripture and then applying them to our needs. The principles are clear, that Elders are appointed in the churches, and that churches are not independent but belong to one another. We believe that this is best done through a plurality of elders at all levels.
Now, maybe you are wondering why we spend all this time talking about these rules and regulations. Just believe the Bible. Just follow Christ, and stop wasting your time on all this stuff.
To that I would say, first of all, that we can’t be so quick to dismiss these questions about how to govern the church, because we do see these principles in Scripture laid down for us. Christ loves his church and gave himself up for her, and we must care enough about her to consider how to do all these things well.
If Christ has cared this much about his beloved church, can we be so quick to ignore these questions? No, but we must also care about how the church is governed, so that she might be cared for and loved, just as Christ has first loved her.
Christ is the King and he is the Head of his Church. Within the Church, as the source of her power, he reigns and rules always. He gives his church officers and ordinances as the means through which he exercises his rule. All for his glory and for the sake of his people, for their good.
1 For an accesible look at the Presbyterian form of church government, and the questions related to church governance in general, see Guy Waters, How Jesus Runs the Church
